


Tea Leaves

by lowlights



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Moving In Together, Moving Out, Reading Tea Leaves, just a lot of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-11-12 20:36:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11169594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lowlights/pseuds/lowlights
Summary: Dan and Phil have always been the best of friends. Recently, however, Dan's started to develop feelings for the other boy.(literally just 4k words of fluff)





	Tea Leaves

Dan and Phil sit in the lounge together, bowls of finished cereal in their laps, the television playing Spirited Away in the background. 

 

Dan scrolls aimlessly through his phone, and Phil lazily looks at the TV screen with a content smile on his face. They’ve seen the movie more times than they can count, but Phil still manages to get nightmares from the kaonashi. 

 

Dan punches him lightly when one appears on screen, and Phil punches him right back, reminding him of exactly who is scared of creatures lurking in the dark. 

 

They clean up breakfast, a sweet air settling around them as Dan turns off the TV and Phil loads the dishwasher in comfortable silence. 

 

It’s summertime, and the windows are letting in an incredible amount of light. Dan sits down, his T-shirt even feeling too warm, which he tweets about after a good half hour of perfecting his wording. 

 

He hears the noise of the camera and tripod being dragged through the halls, and stands up to see Phil moving equipment into his room. 

 

“You didn’t tell me you were filming today,” Dan says, grabbing a light from Phil’s right hand and laughing at how flustered Phil looks from all the stuff he’s carrying. 

 

“Didn’t want to bother you,” Phil says lightly, and Dan shakes his head. 

 

He used to try to wait until Phil was gone to film, or make him promise to close his ears. Phil would do the same thing sometimes, both boys still wary of the way that the other thought of them. Over time, their anxiety had disappeared. 

 

Dan helps Phil set up the tripod, sitting on the ground and leaning against his bed as he films. 

 

Dan tunes out for a couple minutes as Phil talks. When they first met, Dan would drop everything every time that Phil spoke. Something about his voice was just so entrancing to Dan back then. 

 

Now, it serves as the lovely background to which he spends his days, just another piece of the irreplaceable Dan-and-Phil puzzle. 

 

There are many pieces of the puzzle–some that Dan himself can’t even explain. 

 

The days where they wake up and desperately try to convince the other to make breakfast so that they don’t have to get up, then eat in bed on plastic plates and try not to make too much of a mess. 

 

Times when Phil returns from his walk red-faced and bubbly with a new lamp for their house that Dan can’t help but love (even though he’ll say that he hates it at least ten times).

 

Going to Starbucks on October 1st so that Phil can get his pumpkin spice latte.

 

Fake laughing at terrible jokes, listening to Dan’s analysis of Undertale at 4 am, singing in unison to video game soundtracks, helping Phil find the sticky-note where he wrote down an incredible idea he had when he was dreaming. 

 

And, more recently, Dan’s not-so-platonic feelings for the older boy. 

 

He is happy to let it remain a secret, really, because Dan is so entranced by the life that he shares with Phil. No matter how much he insists that change is the gas pedal of life, he is afraid of it. 

 

He’s afraid that confessing his feelings to his hopelessly oblivious friend will mess up their dynamic. He’s afraid if he brings out the missing piece of the Dan-and-Phil puzzle, it won’t fit right. And then everything will be mixed up.

 

So Dan is content to sit at the foot of his best friend’s bed, watching him hold up a magic eight ball and morph his face into a dramatic “O”. 

 

Dan smiles, getting up quietly and going back into the lounge to try to answer some emails. Phil’s muffled voice echoes through the house, filling the space to the brim with the excitable tones of AmazingPhil. 

 

Soon enough, he hears telltale dragging, and goes out into the hallway to see that Phil is lugging the camera, tripod, and a light down it. 

 

“Need some help?” Dan asks, and Phil grins.   
“I’m telling my fortune with tea leaves!”  
“Well, hopefully it doesn’t proclaim death by kettle.”

 

Phil giggles, the sweetest sound in the world, and Dan helps him set up the camera on a shelf. When he turns around, Phil is leaning up against the counter, eyes on the ceiling. 

 

“Phil,” Dan says gently, but the other boy seems to not hear him.   
“Phil!” He says again, a bit louder, and Phil jumps.   
“Oh, sorry Dan. My mom used to say that I’m always--”  
“--Off with the fairies?” Dan suggests playfully, having heard this particular sentiment a fair few times.   
“Yeah,” Phil smiles, waving Dan out of the shot, and turns the camera on as he begins to make his tea. 

 

It’s much later, after Phil has finished filming, that he comes into Dan’s room with an old looking teacup and the glass kettle. 

 

“Jesus Phil, don’t spill!”  
“I won’t,” Phil says, flopping over on Dan’s sheets and making Dan have a mild heart attack as hot water almost sloshes out of the kettle.   
“What’s up?”   
“I want to read your tea leaves!”

 

Dan snorts, shaking his head fondly, and concurs immediately. He takes the kettle, pours himself a cup of tea, and sips on it slowly as he and Phil talk about nothing and everything for a while. 

 

Finally, Dan finishes his tea, and Phil grabs his cup out of his hands excitedly. Dan protests, but Phil reminds him that he has the Lester gift, given to him by his psychic grandmother, to tell the future. Dan lies back as Phil pulls a sheet out of his bag and scrutinizes Dan’s leaves. 

 

After a couple moments filled with the rustling of Phil’s packet full of information, Phil blows into Dan’s ear to get him sitting up. 

 

“Alright, Dan,” Phil starts, and leans back against the pillows that dot Dan’s bed, “Are you ready to hear your future?”  
“No,” Dan jokes, “But I’m sure you’ll tell me anyway.”

 

Phil rolls his eyes before glancing into Dan’s cup one last time to make sure he has the markings right. 

 

“Look, you got one on the church--that means that, uh, a ceremonial gathering is foretold?”  
“Wow, how very accurate!”  
“Hey, don’t insult the tea leaf gods!”

 

Dan shakes his head, urging Phil to go on. 

 

“And this little torch here--”  
“The leaf is definitely not on the torch, Phil, it’s on the moon!.”  
“Maybe to your ungifted eyes!”

 

Dan stifles a laugh but can’t conceal his grin as he rolls his eyes and waits for Phil to tell him exactly what the “torch” means.

 

“Ooh, it means good luck and progress!”  
“I take it back, you were right. Definitely was on the torch.”

 

Phil pokes Dan in the side, squinting his eyes in an attempt to look more fearsome. 

 

“I have a feeling that you aren’t taking this seriously, Dan,” Phil shakes his head in faux disappointment.   
“Oh, no, I am.” Dan assures him.   
“You had better be,” Phil concedes, “Because the leaves don’t lie.”

 

“Oh, how interesting!” Phil exclaims teasingly, looking up from his divination guide and nudging Dan in the side.  
“What?”  
“According to this leaf right here,” Phil gestures vaguely, “You’re helplessly in love!”

 

Obviously, obviously, it’s a coincidence, probably something Phil just said to be funny, but Dan’s heart skips a couple beats as he laughs hollowly. 

 

Luckily, Phil doesn't notice, nudging him again and wiggling his eyebrows. 

 

“Leaving me for someone else, Dan?”  
“No!” 

 

And maybe Dan says it a bit too forcefully, because Phil was joking and not actually suggesting that Dan is in love with someone because of some bunched up leaves in a teacup. Phil, for his part, cocks his head for a half second then resolves to forget the exchange ever happened at all. 

 

“Last one!”  
“Thank God…” Dan whispers, just loud enough for Phil to overhear.   
“What was that, Dan?”  
“Oh, nothing!”

 

Phil puts up his finger. “Dan, this will shock you with how right it is. I don’t think you’re ready.”

 

A short silence. 

“It says right here… that you’re gonna help me clean up the kitchen from the video?”

 

The boys laugh, Dan assuring Phil that yes, he gets the hint and will help him do the dishes. The love ordeal is forgotten about for the time being, and Dan goes into the kitchen to get a snack. When he returns, Phil has tucked himself into Dan’s bed, holding his phone in the air over his face. 

 

“Making yourself at home?” Dan jokes.   
“This is practically home,” Phil fires back. 

 

And Dan’s heart stops for a second before he reminds himself that Phil is just making a joke about being too lazy to move his stuff out of Dan’s room and sleeping in Dan’s massive bed more often than not. 

 

Dan laughs, albeit halfheartedly. 

 

Soon enough, the sun has almost gone down and it’s last remnants create checkered patterns on Phil’s cheeks. He had been reading quietly for the past couple hours, and Dan had been content to try to answer some emails and sneak quiet glances at his best friend. 

 

It’s still fairly early in the night when Phil pokes Dan in the side and suggests that they watch a movie. Dan agrees, hoping that Phil can’t see the slight coloring in his cheeks. 

 

Dan rolls over, stretching his arm out towards the beside table, grabbing the remote, and lazily switching the television on. 

 

Phil walks over to the closet, nonchalantly taking off his jeans and changing into a pair of sweatpants. He turns around, and Dan flicks his eyes away quickly. 

 

Dan feels the bed sink next to him, and, by impulse, scoots closer to the other boy. 

 

They start watching Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, a movie that a couple of their subscribers had recommended to them. 

 

Dan relaxes profusely, allowing himself to sink further into Phil’s side, until he can feel slight tremors when Phil laughs, and a buzz in his chest whenever Phil speaks. 

 

Dan does not stay awake to see the end of the movie, and when he wakes up it’s to a faceful of sunlight streaming in the window. Instinctively, he flips over and pushes his head into the pillow--before realizing that the pillow is actually Phil. 

 

And Phil is awake. Dan rockets off his chest, coughs inadvertently, and racks his brain for something to say. Phil just laughs though, mumbling a “good morning” in his grainy voice, and lying back on the bed serenely. 

 

Most of Dan is extremely relieved that the atmosphere didn’t turn awkward, but a small part of him wishes that Phil had thought something of his behavior. It’s not like he’s trying to drop hints - but maybe it would be easier if he was. 

 

The boys eat a late breakfast then head out into the city in search of the next book in the series that Phil is reading. 

 

On the way, Dan insists that they stop for tea. 

 

They duck into the shop, a place that they’ve never been before, solely because there’s a dog bowl on the streets, and a plump old women greets them from behind the counter. There’s only one other customer here, and she sits by the window sipping tea from a large mug. 

 

Dan sheds his jacket and hangs it on the back of a chair, then goes to join Phil at the register. The woman is talking his ear off, but luckily Phil’s always been the one to have long conversations with strangers. 

 

Phil skillfully turns the conversation to their order, and the women gestures towards a list on the wall that shows all the varieties of teas that the shop serves. 

 

Dan’s eyes flick over the menu, trying to decide between classic green tea and ginger tea. He absentmindedly listens to Phil’s conversation as he debates which tea he thinks the other boy will order. 

 

“Now, we don’t use strainers, so your tea will have leaves in it,” the woman tells Phil, who laughs and begins telling her all about what they done the previous day. 

 

The woman, whose name is apparently Janice, seems to be very interested in the fact that Dan and Phil had read their tea leaves. 

 

Phil chats enthusiastically, beginning his story about his psychic grandmother, and Dan sighs with a smile. Once Phil gets into a conversation, it’s almost impossible to get him out of it. Dan listens passively, shifting his weight and deciding that Phil will probably get peppermint tea. 

 

“Well, mine said that I would have domestic happiness, so that’s good! But it also said that one of my friends is going to betray me… so I don’t really know what to think.”  
“Interesting… you may want to watch out.” The woman, Janice, says. 

 

Dan rolls his eyes covertly. Of course Phil has struck up conversation with someone who believes that tea leaves can tell your fortune, it’s really just their luck. 

 

“And did you read his leaves?” Janice gestured towards Dan, who is secretly thinking that she really ought to have taken their tea orders by now.   
“Yeah,” Phil replies happily.  
“What did you find?”

 

Phil thinks for a second, then breaks out into a small smile as he remembers. “Well, his leaves said that, uh, he’ll have great fortune,” he grins, almost mischievously, “And that he’s hopelessly in love with someone, right Dan?”

 

Dan’s heart leaps up into his throat, but he manages a little nod. Janice properly looks at him for the first time, raising her eyebrows slightly. 

 

“Well, can I get your orders?” She asks, finally, but Dan is freaked out by the inquisitive glances that she is sending his way. 

 

Dan ends up with a ginger tea, and Phil, as predicted, goes for the peppermint. The tea is deliciously warm, and the boys sit in silence for a while as they finish. Luckily, there are no symbols on the bottom for the leaves to fall on. 

 

Phil makes Dan go up to the register and pay. 

 

He can’t deny that he is a little bit wary of Janice, especially because he sees her staring him down as he walks up to her. 

 

Dan gives her the money, mumbling “keep the change” so that she will have no excuse to talk to him. He really doesn’t know what it is about her that’s making him so uncomfortable, but he just wants to get out of the store. 

 

She smiles, pulling open the register drawer. “The tea leaves don’t lie,” she says. 

 

Yeah, she’s definitely crazy.

 

“Sorry, I don’t know what you mean?” Dan attempts a smile.

 

The woman shakes her head almost fondly, smiling to herself. She looks up to meet Dan’s eyes, fixing him with an almost steely glare. “I think you do.”

 

She turns her eyes to Phil across the shop, then looks back at Dan for a short second. 

 

Before Dan can respond, she turns around and walks through a swinging door into the back of the shop. 

 

Dan and Phil duck out of the doorway, Phil babbling about how good his tea was and Dan listening absentmindedly. 

 

The sun is bright, and the usually busy streets of London seem quieter. 

 

They arrive at their favorite bookshop, and Dan picks up a book to read the back cover. When he looks back up, Phil is looking around the back of the store in the crime section. 

 

Dan laughs. It’s a common occurrence, for Phil to wander off without saying a word. Dan secretly loves it, but he still teases Phil about it relentlessly. 

 

Soon enough, the boys are checking out, Phil deciding that buying a handful of penny sweets at the register is a good plan. Dan steals one and pops it in his mouth, grinning when Phil lightly punches him on the shoulder. 

 

It’s midday, and instead of going home the boys decide to eat lunch at a small cafe. 

 

There are tea cakes in the window, and a couple of plants hanging from the ceiling. The wooden walls are painted white, and the chairs a light yellow shade. Delighted that ordering off the breakfast menu is allowed, Phil orders pancakes. Dan goes for a salad, inviting Phil’s teasing about his three week long vegan diet. 

 

As they wait for the food, Phil kicks Dan under the table to get his attention. 

 

“Dan, look!” he says, gesturing towards a woman in a long fur jacket outside the window. 

 

Dan turns around, immediately catching sight of the woman in question. He turns back to Phil, his voice low, and they giggle about how long her nails are and what possible uses she could have for them.

 

They have a nice lunch, Phil letting Dan have a bite of his pancakes because he “feels bad for him and his salad”. 

 

Dan can’t help but to think about how easy everything is between them. It’s always been this way, ever since they first met. Somehow, through the eight years of their friendship, they’ve never run out of things to talk about. 

 

It’s even a running joke with their friends - at parties, after a couple hours of being social, the boys are sure to disappear into their own world. 

 

They go back home. The new apartment has two less flights of stairs and quiet neighbors and a couple huge windows that Phil was immediately entranced with. 

 

Stupid photographs of the boys at tourist attractions are strewn about on tables, a couple plants dot the hallways, and video equipment is stacked haphazardly in the closet. 

 

It’s not perfect, but it doesn’t have to be. 

 

This apartment is a halfway point, a compromise between the old, well-loved apartment and the forever home which they endlessly fantasize about. 

 

Dan can’t help but to think that his own relationship with Phil stands at a halfway point as well. They’ve never discussed being more-than-friends, but usually platonic relationships don’t include getting a third apartment together and holding hands in the street and teasing each other about love in the middle of a tea shop. 

 

Dan can’t remember the last time Phil slept in his own room, come to think of it. It’s smaller, more cramped, a space Phil can fill with all the odd things he brings back from trips into the city. 

 

They sit down on the couch in the living room, Phil leaning into Dan’s side as he scrolls through twitter and answers a couple questions about his new video. 

 

Dan is content to watch. 

 

And later, Dan is content to let Phil watch “Speed” for the fifth time while eating delivered pizza. 

 

Dan gets up, yawning and joking about how he shouldn’t have stayed up so late last night. Phil shuts off the television, making Dan pull him off the couch. 

 

Dan pulls some sweatpants out of his closet and changes quickly, pulling back the sheets and sliding into his warm bed with a smile on his face. 

 

Phil grabs his hideous emoji pajamas off the ground, and, much to Dan’s dismay, actually puts them on. 

 

As the older boy gets in bed, Dan kicks him in the shin in complaint, but Phil just chuckles. 

 

“You love it, really.”

 

And though he would never tell, Dan does. 

 

The younger boy wakes up the next morning to sunlight streaming through his window. He smiles, letting out a long breath and snuggling himself into the sheets. 

 

He hears Phil stir next to him, muttering something in gibberish before sucking in a breath and yawning as he wakes up. 

 

The older boy stretches his arms out, knocking his hand into Dan’s head, but Dan is too sleepy to even say a word. 

 

“Oops, Dan, I’m sorry!” Phil giggles, “Oh, you’re asleep.”

 

Dan doesn’t really care to protest Phil’s assumption, and instead just closes his eyes and breathes slowly. 

 

Suddenly, he feels a tentative arm wrap around his chest, and a quick exhale on the back of his neck. 

 

Dan’s body goes on autopilot for a second, his nerves seemingly waking up at the fact that Phil is touching him. But as the minutes pass and Phil’s arm still drapes over Dan’s torso, he relaxes and settles into his loose grip. 

 

It could be ten minutes or an hour later, but finally Phil folds his arm away and slides out of bed. 

 

“Dan?” he asks, a touch of humor to his voice, “Do you want some cereal?”

 

Dan stays quiet, confused as to why Phil would think that he’s awake all of a sudden. 

 

“Oh, come off it, I know you’ve been up this entire time.”

 

Dan turns over, his sleep ruffled hair sticking up all over the place as his mouth forms an ‘O’ at Phil’s words. “But then why did you -”

 

“The tea leaves really don’t lie, Dan! You are hopelessly in love with me.” Phil breaks out in a boyish grin, seemingly very pleased with himself for having figured this out. 

 

Dan runs his hands through his hair, trying to think of what he should do next, but Phil breaks the silence. 

 

“Wanna watch Spirited Away again?”  
“Are we just gonna pretend that that never happened?!”  
“What, you basically admitting to being in love with me?”

 

Dan’s eyes widen at Phil’s nonchalant words. “Yeah, and you… you cuddling me for a half hour!”

 

Phil cracks a smile, crawling back into bed and placing his lips right on Dan’s. They share a short kiss, Phil breaking it way too early for Dan’s taste. 

 

“Maybe you can kiss me again once you brush your teeth.”

 

It’s a pleasant change, one that they both settle into immediately. Kissing each other goodbye instead of waving, cuddling on the couch while watching movies, waking each other up in the middle of the night just so somebody else will be there. 

 

Phil teasing Dan as much as he can, insisting that he only wants to see Dan blush. Dan spending hours at that same bookshop poring over the crime section to find the perfect gift. 

 

Late at night, sitting in the lounge and scrolling through property websites to try to find the perfect place. 

 

Sorting boxes into “keep” and “give away” is always an ordeal since Phil insists that every convention lanyard and odd knickknack are worth keeping around. 

 

Locking up the halfway apartment for the last time is bittersweet. It was never going to be a place they stayed in forever, and yet so much had happened there. Dan insists that he won’t miss it, but Phil sees right through him, dragging him into a hug and almost making him drop the box in his hand. 

 

And moving in is just as bad as it was the first two times. It takes weeks for the two to unpack all of the boxes, even with the help of Martyn and Cornelia. 

 

Dan buys a cake on the day they unpack the last box - he pretends he hates surprises, but he can’t deny that the look on Phil’s face makes it worth it. That, and the fact that he gets to kiss the icing off of Phil’s lips. 

 

And a couple months later, he wakes Phil up at an ungodly hour and leads him into the living room, where a scruffy rescue dog chases his tail. It’s enough to wipe the sleep out of Phil’s eyes altogether. 

 

They call him Mister. He’s a big dog, clumsy and slow, and he thinks he’s a lapdog. He crawls into their bed at night and in between them on the couch, rolling around and licking their faces. 

 

“If only you could kiss me like that,” Phil often jokes, and Dan needs only to gesture around the room to the self-timed pictures of them kissing all around the world. 

 

It’s cheesy. But maybe it’s supposed to be.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading xx!


End file.
